


The Rescue

by Psychopersonified



Series: Kidnapped!Q [6]
Category: James Bond (Craig movies)
Genre: Action, Angst, Benji's reckoning, Emotional, Established Relationship, Hurt, M/M, Negotiations, Q has brilliant plans, Rescue Missions, Science Stuff, Technology - Blockchain, dark humour, fight-scene, standoff - Freeform, wanton destruction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:02:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25311289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Psychopersonified/pseuds/Psychopersonified
Summary: Next in the Kidnapped!Q series.Leading up to their rescue, Q comes up with absolutely brilliant plans. He can only hope they all work out.Alistair gets something he wants - this one gonna hurt a fair bit.Another 'action' oriented episode. If you love technology and science, this is the episode for you.
Relationships: James Bond/Q
Series: Kidnapped!Q [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1782712
Comments: 18
Kudos: 103





	The Rescue

**Author's Note:**

> This episode contains informative summaries of Q's brilliant plans. It's a bit heavy on cryptocurrency and blockchain concepts at the beginning but I swear it is integral to the plot. Follow along and you'll see how Q's plan fall into place in what he believes is the best life insurance policy he can come up with. Will it work? Read on to find out. 
> 
> Other science-y stuff abound in between. I'm aware that not everyone likes the techy stuff so what is a story without the emotional component? Fair warning: there is a section where consent is an issue.
> 
> Please enjoy!

**_Double Spending_ **

Over the next three days, Alistair and Q work to use the freshly optimised Spectre AI to probe the mining pools of various cryptocurrency coins looking for vulnerabilities and avenues for attack. These pools use specialised protocols to share computational power so getting past it opens up the whole pool to their control.

Once it has control of the mining pools, it starts mining the [mempool](https://www.mycryptopedia.com/mempool-explained/) (pending transactions waiting to be confirmed), but transactions included in these privately mined blocks are not broadcasted to the rest of the network. The result is that the AI is working on its own version of the blockchain and not broadcasting it to the rest of the network.

With this in mind, they can now engage in [double-spending](https://www.mycryptopedia.com/51-percent-attack-explained/). First spending their coins on the public version of the blockchain, leaving out these transactions on the blockchain that has not been broadcasted. 

On this private version of the blockchain, they still possess those spent coins. And because they control of a more than 50% of hashing power they are able to broadcast their private version of the blockchain and form blocks faster than the rest of the network - which means that they will be able to form a longer blockchain. 

As a result, the rest of the miners on the network will be forced to switch to the longer chain. The previously private version of the blockchain is now considered to be the correct one, and all transactions that were not included on this chain are reversed. Those ‘spent’ transactions are not included on this version of the blockchain so they retain their coins, meaning that those funds are capable of being spent again - hence _Double Spend._

This attack amounts to almost $75 million in value from various competitor crypto coins. It is the largest attack in history on cryptocurrencies. However, as financial terrorism goes, the value of the ‘heist’ hardly makes a dent in a $270 billion dollar market, there are individual CEOs that are paid more than that in a year.

The point of all this is to shake the market, to force investors to jump ship and place their bets on $PECTRE, inflating its value. And this is exactly what happens. 

The speed and seeming ease of the attack stuns the market - calling into serious question the security of blockchains based on the Proof-of-Work model. By the end of the third day, cryptocurrency exchanges - marketplaces that allow customers to trade digital currency for other assets (i.e cash) suspend trading all the hit cryptos and many of the major coins suffer losses in market cap as well. 

Kim continues on his press tour, acting suitably concerned and humbly reminding the market of his warnings about the vulnerabilities of traditional blockchain. He’s the new darling, the man of the hour in the crypto community. $PECTRE surges in value gaining and extra 30% in three days breaking the billion-dollar threshold. 

All this new value is a result of the unsuspecting public hedging their hard earned money on this new model $PECTRE promises - not just hedge funds but moms and pops using their retirement money to invest. This creates a secondary concern - how will they (good guys) take it down… _can_ they even do anything about?

Something Q thinks about every night as he struggles to sleep. 

* * *

**Smart Contracts**

Their second night in, Marcus had found way out of their ‘cell’. The entire upper floor is constructed on a false flooring system. The floor tiles sit on top of pedestals above the concrete creating a void beneath that houses electrical wiring, cables and various ducting. Marcus had managed to pry one of the floor tiles loose and dived into the space - a dark maze of dead ends without hesitation. He eventually did find a way out - emerging past the guarded corridor into the hallway outside.

The idea initially was to follow the network cable to the other end and plug it in to give Q the internet access he needs, but it was quickly abandoned as the cable was fed through a casing and into a hole in the concrete not big enough to follow. 

Instead, Marcus climbed down to the factory floor and went on a search for something Q could use. A modern factory like this surely ran on a [SCADA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCADA) system (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) that enables the operators to monitor and control production from a computer. Some of the components on the equipment like the PLC (programmable logic controllers) and RTUs (Remote Terminal Units) would doubtless be set up to wirelessly communicate with the plant supervisory computers. 

Q had told him, anything that looked like it had antennas on it was fair game. Marcus targeted the non-operational areas of the factory, the stolen modems and wireless PCIE cards would less likely be missed.

Getting back in was a bigger challenge. If he went back in all dusty and grimy from his crawling about the place, they’d suspect something immediately. So Marcus stole a set of worker uniforms before going back. 

“Did you get it?” Q holds out his hand for the components even before Marcus has hauled his tired arse out of the literal hole in the ground. 

“Give me a hand out of here first,” he grouses. Q helps him out and Marcus turns around to retrieve his stolen goodies from the void. Q takes it with a curt thanks and dives right in. 

Dusting himself off, Marcus gripes, “They did say you were tight with your praises. Rumour is, the only agent you ever praise is 003.”

“That’s because she’s an exemplary agent. Always brings back her kit and pre-cleans them first. And when she doesn’t she’s very apologetic about it,” Q answers him, only half paying attention already sorting through the parts.

“No… no… maybe… wrong connection…“ Q hands down his verdict, tutting away. 

Marcus feels like the Charley Bates bringing home the day’s pickings for Fagin to judge. “Hey! That one took me a good 15 minutes to pry out of the equipment…” he protests when Q tosses it haphazardly into the _no_ pile. 

“Time better served elsewhere. Is it too much to ask that agents have a rudimentary knowledge of electronics?” 

_OUCH_. There’s the infamous Quartermaster disdain. When he’s stressed or in the grips of a project, god help any agent who doesn’t measure up. 

“Yes!” Q exclaims jubilantly when he finds what he needs. The wireless PCIE card snaps into the waiting slot perfectly. Minutes later he’s gained internet access. The shift in his demeanour was visible, the slouched desperate internet deprived boffin melted away and the straight-backed, quietly confident Quartermaster settled in. 

“008, mind hiding the rest of the components? Thank you.” Q doesn’t even look up, already elbow deep in whatever he’s latched on to. 

—

Q studies the $PECTRE network late into the night. 

A major underpinning of the system is the use of Smart Contracts - a self-executing contract with the terms of the agreement between buyer and seller being directly written into lines of code. The code controls the execution - it and the agreements contained therein exist in the [blockchain](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/blockchain.asp) network; making them immutable.

Example: Payment for ‘services’ (assassination, kidnapping etc.). A buyer sends a smart contract to the seller. The entirety of the sum is held in escrow by the smart contract code, there is no risk that the buyer cannot pay. Release of the money may come in instalments e.g half upfront with the other half after the deed is done. The contract may stipulate a pre-arranged security code to be entered after the service is rendered which prompts the buyer to verify, which when they agree may enter another code to release the balance immediately. Neither parties ever have to meet. No physical cash need to change hands - no smuggling huge amounts or waiting for bank transfers to clear. 

Breaking down the Smart Contracts reveal three integral parts or objects:

  1. Signatories - the two or more parties using the contract
  2. Subject of the agreement - services to be rendered (in code of course), 
  3. Specific terms - price, delivery timeframes, when (half now, half after), how/method of verification that terms have been fulfilled. 



_Fascinating_. His Shadow AI might not have enough computing power to takeover the entire $PECTRE network simultaneously, therefore is unable to attack the blockchain directly. It can however takeover nodes in a succession of individual attacks - hundreds per minute possibly, if poorly secured.

In a flash of inspiration, he thinks he’s got it. Whilst he can’t attack the blockchains directly, he can attack the interface that allows users to carry out transactions, the coin Wallet software. The same software that makes it possible to write and send Smart Contracts. 

This gives Q something to think on… 

* * *

**Third evening…** **_Benji’s Reckoning_ **

Their hosts give them half hour each for their nightly ablutions. All things considered, they were treated fairly well despite the earlier threats and violence. Q’s work keeps everyone happy, but he knows it will not last forever. He is keenly aware that their survival is finely balanced. They just need to stay alive long enough to be rescued. And that means staying compliant until then.

The hot shower in the workers changing room is a temporary relief for his aching muscles and it gives him respite from the long hours of coding. He's been functioning on maybe 3-4 hours of sleep each night and it’s taking its toll. The food has been standard local factory cafeteria fare, which was alright - but the teas Alistair made him tasted odd despite his insistence that it was his favourite Earl Grey. 

Squeaking hinges and a muffled thud tells him someone has entered the worker’s changing room. It must be 30 minutes already and his minder is here to collect him. Q sighs, turning off the water. 

His towel is hung on a nearby hook and he reaches for it. Just as his fingers close around the towel a larger hand covers his. Q freezes.

The fingers slip between his and pulls it away from the towel to pin his hand on the tiled wall. Another hand slips around his middle splaying against his stomach. A naked torso presses against him from behind he feels every inch of skin burn at the contact, his every instinct is to recoil. 

A tongue licks up his shoulder lapping up the moisture on his wet skin, it makes its slow way up to his ear where it nuzzles and bites his earlobe. A the same time, the hand on his stomach slips down to fondle him, the force of the grip almost unkind. 

Q doesn’t realise he’s been holding his breath until he hears himself choke off a gasp. 

The man takes a deep breath of his freshly washed hair, “Benji, you’ve been so good. So, so good.”

“Alistair please don’t...” he begs softly. Amazed that his voice still holds steady.

He’s suddenly spun around and pushed back against the wall. Alistair’s mouth collides with his roughly and he is kissed thoroughly. Possession. That’s all he feels in the kiss. 

Already near breaking point with exhaustion, Q debates his next move. What would be the point of fighting? Where would he run? His life and 008’s may depend on Alistair’s grace in the coming days. His brain reminds him of what Bond said when they’d discussed survival theories over dinner one evening. 

_Do everything you can to survive short of a war crime._

Alistair moves on to kiss down his neck placing a hand around his throat. The other hand trails down his back to slip between his cheeks. 

He trembles in a mixture of fear and anger. He is not afraid of the act - he is terrified of Alistair’s cold calculated retribution later should he not consent. But that’s the thing, as a captive he cannot by definition consent out of his own free will and he is angry that Alistair would press his advantage this way. 

Q grits his teeth. He doesn’t have to enjoy this, he just needs to give Alistair enough to satisfy him for now and for it to be over with it quickly. Resistance will only provoke and prolong the ordeal. He does his best to compartmentalise - to think of this as a mission, just like the double-0s and their honeypots. He is using Alistair as much as Alistair is using him.

Not satisfied at simply rutting against him, Alistair suddenly rips him from the wall and leads him to the lockers. When Q sees the towel laid out on the bench, the floor drops out from under him and he nearly balks. He was prepared for something quick and mindless, but not this. 

Sure he’s had trysts during his university days; but he’s only had penetrative sex with two men in his life. No points for guessing who was his first. He can’t believe he used to love this man. The former lover who he once trusted with his most vulnerable moment, now forcing his submission.

He is coaxed with gentle kisses and caresses to lie on his back and to accept Alistair between his legs. After much cajoling, Q realises with increasing horror that Alistair thinks what he is doing is a _reward_ \- recompense for his cooperation, for being _good_.

Q bites the back of his hand to stifle an involuntary whimper when Alistair enters him. Alistair for his part is aware enough of his discomfort to kiss and soothe - a grotesque parody of tenderness. Q resists the overwhelming urge to fight against the man on top of him by balling his fists in the towel under him.

“Sshhh, Relax Benji, it will be alright once you relax,” _the fucking gall of the man!_ To patronise him, as if he were still a blushing virgin, as if it was his fault it hurts. He knows exactly what to do, he just needs to convince his body to follow along, that this is _voluntary_.

He counts the ceiling tiles, left to right - distracting himself does the trick and he’s able to eventually give Alistair the access he wants. He loses track of time and doesn’t know how long Alistair fucks him for. 

“You’ve been so good. So perfect… Benji you deserve everything. I’ve missed you so much,” Alistair moans and sighs variations of this repeatedly throughout the assault, lost in his own world. His hands roaming greedy and covetous all over Q’s body. 

Q wonders if Alistair truly finds the act pleasurable or if its Q’s compliance he’s enjoying much more. Whichever the case, his rhythm finally stutters. Q squeezes his eyes shut - relieved It will be over soon. 

Alistair’s climax is followed by deep invasive kisses. He is like James that way, but their underlying motivations couldn’t be any more different. Where James is protective and adoring, Alistair is dominating and controlling.

He smothers Q with proclamations of love and promises of a future together once this is done. Q has no doubt Alistair _believes_ what he says. However, his deep concern is that Alistair’s definition of love is vastly different from his.

_——_

Alistair takes undue pleasure dressing him after. When Q thinks about it, the clothes he’s been provided with since his abduction - are all of a particular style and all needlessly expensive. He watches Alistair brush the wrinkles out of his jumper, fold his cuffs a certain way and combs his hair just so. He’s being treated like a doll; moulding him to fit some image only Alistair knows. 

“Alistair…” Q barely keeps out the contempt in his voice at saying his name, “How much longer are you going to keep me here?”

Still lax and dreamy, he’s more amiable to share. He comes over to show Q pictures of a super yacht on his phone, “You’ll love it. I promise.” 

* * *

**Oracle**

Back in their room, Marcus takes one look at the haunted expression on Q’s face and he knows exactly what happened - he’d been gone much longer than the previous days. Marcus lets out a string of invectives on his behalf. Q goes on to tell him of Alistair’s plan and the yacht. They need to be prepared, it feels like this will end soon. 

“Are you going to tell HQ?” Marcus skirts around the elephant in the room - he meant Bond. 

Q is curled up on the sofa, blanket drawn up to his nose. He’s trembling and doesn’t know why. A delayed reaction maybe, now that the adrenaline has worn off. He can’t shake the feeling of powerlessness and he’s loathing it. 

“Not… yet. After this is over. It will only be a distraction right now,” Q answers. Marcus regards him with concern.

“When this is over, there will be time to consult Dr Epstien and deal with it. I suspect there will be years of counselling ahead of me,” Q chuckles darkly, coping with the situation with humour. And he doesn’t want 008’s pity right now, it only makes him feel weaker. 

Marcus drops the subject, understanding. At the moment, Q needs anger to sustain him. There will be time later for sympathy and tears. But right now, he needs to be Quartermaster. 

There is something he hasn’t told anyone which he feels fairly conflicted. Ever since he’d realised how much the Americans and the others coveted the Shadow Network, he’d programmed extra safeguards into it. All of which he has documented with MI6 - all save one. 

As with all creators, he faces a dilemma with handing over control of his creation. He feels that the AI is part of him, not like a child but more the beginnings of an algorithmic representation of how his brain works, how he processes the world - a very crude transference of his consciousness. When he looks at it this way, he feels less guilty - entitled even for having programmed a master key, a carte blanche for himself into the Shadow Network. 

Q looks over at where Marcus is diligently sharpening a metal shank. The sight is somewhat galvanising to his spirit. He throws the blanket off him and gets up.

The Master Key, he admits it’s one of the worst things he could have done in terms of security, some might even label it as treason as the AI belongs to the government and not him. Those thoughts are pushed aside when he lowers himself onto the chair in front of the computer. The discomfort reminds him of the complete loss of agency under Alistair’s domineering treatment. 

Without further hesitation he uses the key which is a little more sophisticated than just a static password; requiring something akin to two-factor authentication:

  1. (Knock on the door) - he asks the AI a string of fairly complicated equations with changeable variables
  2. (Reply -> present with lock) - which it returns an answer and a password query. Q has then to use the answer as the variable input into another set of memorised equations which even he has to calculate with a pen and paper 
  3. (Password respond) - and returns the answer as the variable password. 



The answer matches and he’s _IN_. He works carefully, not wanting to alert HQ that he is inside their system remotely. It would put Mark in a difficult position of trying to kick him out which he can’t - his key gives him priority access above all others. 

Now he can get to work creating their life insurance. And what better way than the Smart Blood Programme. Mark had mentioned that the prototype chips in his bloodstream still work, and 008 was just recently injected with it as well. Which means the there is a conveniently reliable real-time digital interpretation of their wellbeing (i.e. alive/dead). The next step is to engineer it so that the continued functioning of $PECTRE is contingent upon their wellbeing. 

The way to do that is to create an Oracle - a middleware program that retrieves and verifies external data for blockchains and smart contracts. Q links this Oracle with the Smart Blood Programme by granting the oracle API access to the data. 

As for the final bit…connecting the whole thing together. 

:: Smart Blood -> Oracle <—> (AI injects mandatory terms via Wallet) in Smart Contracts -> (terms fulfilled) Transaction executed / (terms unfulfilled) Transaction halted ::

He needs to force all new Smart Contracts in $PECTRE’s network to include the Smart Blood data - he needs to make this requirement a ‘specific term’ in every transaction. 

This is where the Shadow AI comes to play, already loose in $PECTRE’s network even before he was abducted, Q now activates it from just data collection to malicious intent. The AI hijacks the data from the Wallet software before it reaches the blockchain and inserts an additional ‘term’ before releasing it. No one will know until it’s too late, until it’s already added to the blockchain and therefore immutable. 

_Too fucking perfect!_ He ties all their lives; his, 008 and even 007 to this. If anyone of them dies: 

::No heartbeat -> no blood pressure -> no power to the chips -> no data returned = _Death_ ::

ALL of $PECTRE’s smart contracts freeze (terms unfulfilled). No transactions can proceed, coins held in escrow stay stuck, money stops changing hands - rendering the entire network pointless. 

It’s Q’s life insurance as well as his cyanide pill. If Alistair refuses to let him go, and things become untenable - this is his final solution. He will scorch the earth and lay waste to everything Alistair has built. If over a billion dollars disappear from the market overnight, he could care less. As vindictiveness go, Q can be equally as spiteful. 

* * *

**Fourth day…** **The Rescue**

Something is different. Neither Alistair of Kim come. By mid-morning, they are moved to the hardly used biochemistry lab at the other end of the corridor. Alistair comes by briefly with a team of workers who then enter the server room and starts dismantling it. They remove the hard drives containing the precious algorithms of Alistair’s newborn _Spectre AI_ \- and store them away carefully. The GPU setup goes next, into heavy-duty storage crates. It takes them the better part of the day to remove everything. 

Meanwhile, Marcus and Q stew in the lab as they watch through the interior window. Q remarks to Marcus ominously that those hard drives are the seeds of a possible future threat, and Q had helped Alistair create it - perhaps Mallory was right to be concerned. 

As for their current fates, today is the day. They’ve served out their usefulness. Kim has got what he wanted, he no longer needs Q, which also means he does not need 008 around as well. Alistair will get Q, and 008 will be disposed off with a bullet or some other effective means of silencing him. 

They turn the lab inside out, searching for anything of use. Marcus tries prying the tiles off the floor just like they did in the other room, but in the lab, the tiles are locked down - not that way then. 

In the backroom of the lab Q finds a cupboard of leftover chemicals mostly used for cleaning. 

A few bottles of critic acid, hydrochloric and sulphuric acid, some bleach, detergents, dish soap and peroxide. Not much use on its own, the acid would burn if thrown in the face but there’s not really much left to be effective, enough for one try possibly. 

“What about these?… They’re flammable.” Marcus comes to him, holding leftover bottles of acetone and isopropanol in each hand. Solvents and highly flammable but they burn quickly and the lab is not particularly flammable; tiled floors, metal workbenches and treated fire-resistant materials. 

“There’s not much of in here, are these the only ones left?” Marcus nods. “I doubt it would cause much damage. It’ll just burn itself out,” Q adds it to the stash they’ve collected. 

“Think!” Q berates himself. “Chemistry is more Jenny’s expertise,” Q explains to Marcus, sheepish that there is a field of science that he isn’t quite an expert in.

He rearranges the bottles to classify them: Solvents, acids, detergents, oxidiser… “Hmm… These are some powerful oxidisers and organic solvents.” 

“Can you make them go… BOOM?” Marcus suggests hopefully. 

That’s the provocation he needs. Q looks at 008. _Challenge accepted,_ “Can I? Watch me.” 

—

Of course he can, but how much of a BOOM and when it should go, is a problem. Too much and at unpredictable times and they risk injuring themselves. The components of the BOOM has to stay stable until when they need it to activate. 

But he is nothing if not ingenious. In the end, he rigs a timed setup using a burette and some beakers. Hydrogen peroxide in the burette, sulphuric acid in a beaker nestled inside a larger beaker containing acetone. 

The burette allows him to control the speed of the titration and therefore the timing to an extent:

  1. Hydrogen peroxide into concentrated sulphuric acid making what is called a Piranha Solution - a highly corrosive and powerful oxidiser used for cleaning labware. In it of itself, it aggressively dissolves/eats away any organic matter.
  2. Making the solution is an extremely exothermic reaction - it will boil if not careful and that is exactly what Q wants. The hot solution is most reactive then. 
  3. As the solution boils over into the acetone in the outer beaker it produces the trimer acetone peroxide or TATP - the infamous ‘shoe bomber’ explosive. The highly volatile trimer is friction and shock sensitive. The slightest vibration could set it off. 



This creates a trifecta of potential trauma - an explosion of boiling hot corrosive solution. He has enough solution and glassware to make three sets of this timed rig. 

—

*Tink. Tink. Tink.*

It’s dusk when he hears it. Soft taps like little water droplets dripping onto a hard metal surface. 

“Do you hear that?” Marcus asks looking away from the window that faces inside the factory. Alistair’s men have finished packing away the computer equipment half an hour ago and the rest of the clueless factory workers have gone home for the night. The place is eerily silent - no witnesses, something is about to happen. 

008 has a number of improvised shanks made of glass and metal, not the best weapons but they will have to do. 

“What? Are they back yet?” Q replies anxiously. He’s arranging additional glassware around his Piranha & TATP rigs, projectiles for extra damage. Marcus had told him where to put up them, around the area of the door to the cleaning room. The plan is to barricade themselves inside, their assailants will need to break it down and that creates a congregation point. The hope is that they will be too focused trying to extricate Q and Marcus that they miss the boiling solutions around them until it explodes. 

“Not yet. That sound… it’s coming from the fume hood,” Marcus goes over to investigate.

There are little dark dots on the metal surface. Upon closer examination, they’re moving!

*Tink. Tink. Tink.* More of them fall from the extraction funnel until there’s almost twenty of them before finally a last and much larger object plunks onto the surface. 

“Q! It’s Herbie and the swarm!” Marcus scoops up Herbie and turns around to show it to him.

“Herbie!” which means 007 is here! The knowledge makes his confidence soar. He retrieves Herbie from the agent, “Marcus, help the swarm. Here… put them in this beaker and release them under the door. I’ll fill HQ in on the plan.”

—

They don’t have to wait long. Less than fifteen minutes later and Kim’s specialised henchmen are back - the same goons who beat up Marcus, the ones with the guns. 

Herbie buzzes urgently on Q’s shoulder alerting him to get ready. Q twits open the valve on the burettes, hoping that he’s got the timing right. Then he quickly ducks back into the lab’s cleaning room. Marcus shuts the door behind him and barricades it. 

Just two minutes later they hear the main door to the lab swish open. And just as anticipated, when the henchmen don’t find the two of them, they head for the backroom. 

*Bang!* as the henchmen tries to break down the door. They yell at them in Korean, threatening them with consequences if they don’t open the door. Marcus curses them back, inciting them to focus their attentions on the door. 

*Bang… Bang.. Bang* they try again and again. Each time the vibration can be felt through the floor and partition wall. Then suddenly someone shouts about smoke in the lab and suddenly *BOOOOOOM!!!*

The succession of explosions rattles the door. Q and Marcus had sought refuge behind the cabinet barricade. They give it thirty seconds before exiting. 

It’s carnage. Smoke hangs in the air, glass underfoot. Two henchmen are on the ground one writhing in pain and the other unconscious. A third is hysterically dousing himself with water from the emergency shower station attempting to wash the aggressively corrosive liquid off his skin. 

“Careful don’t step in the glass and liquid, it’s still reactive,” Q instructs as they step around the devastation. Marcus swipes a gun off the unconscious man. 

Once outside, they pelt down the corridor and into the stairwell leading down to the manufacturing floor. They’re heading for the fire escape at the base of the stairs. 

Halfway down to the exit and they are blocked off by another henchman (Big Guy who beat up 008 days earlier), coming up to investigate the explosion. Too close to draw the stolen weapon, Marcus engages the man and a heated fight break out. It’s a flurry of kicks, punches and body slams. He gets a few good knee and elbow strikes in, cracking a rib for sure. 

Q backs off out of the way, this is out of his expertise, he’d only be a distraction. But the close quarters' combat puts 008 at a disadvantage, he’s still injured so doesn’t have his usual stamina. He stabs the guy with his makeshift shank but it Big Guy refuses to go down. 

The door to the stairwell opens on the lower floor where Q had moved himself. He turns around and is faced with a gun pointed almost right in his face; behind it a familiar pair of icy blue eyes. Q ducks on instinct, the gun goes off - deafening in the enclosed space. 

Behind him, the sounds of fighting stop abruptly. Big Guy drops like a sack of potatoes onto the floor.

“Bond!” Q literally launches himself at him. “Oh my god!” he holds on tightly, unable to contain himself. He wants nothing more than to melt into him, but James does not reciprocate - already pulling him down the stairs. Now is not the time. 

“There’s two more waiting at the loading bay and a team of security guards patrolling the grounds. The car is just outside past the fence, behind the trees,” 007 tells them, positioning Q behind him. Marcus draws his gun and takes up the rear. 

007 cracks open the fire escape door tentatively. A shout is heard outside and he slams the door back shut, “Not this way then.” 

They back away quickly and onto the main factory floor. It’s a maze of equipment, mixing vats, and piping. There is another fire escape on the other side, closer to the worker’s entrance and changing rooms but is much more dangerous, plenty of blindspots around corners and walls. 

True enough there is an ensuing melee in the chokepoint of the changing rooms. The poorly trained factory guards are taken care of easily, but they had to lock the entry door to the changing rooms to prevent more from coming after them. The fight forces them out into the main office building - their only escape now is through the suicidal front entrance. 

Pinned behind a wall, they can’t go back and in front, more thugs arrive, these ones professional. They advance towards them. Marcus is a crackshot with even better scores than 007 - so he takes the initiative. Bond hands him the secondary weapon he has on him, a compact but higher-powered rifle. Three shots towards the ceiling, dead on target. The anchors of the complicated glass and metal sculpture hanging in the centre of the atrium give way and the whole thing comes crashing down. 

A deadly hail of glass and metal rain down on them, causing absolute destruction of the once pristine lobby. Bond pushes Q down and curls up behind him to shield him from stray debris. Thankfully the sheltering wall deflects most of it. 

It takes a few minutes for both sides to regroup and assess the situation. The sculpture is now a bramble of jagged twisted metal and glass taking up most of the lobby space. It blocks most of the way, so they’ll have to pick their way to the exit - but it also means Kim’s thugs don’t have a straight path towards them. 

—

“BENJI!!!” Alistair’s voice rings out through the ruined atrium. 

_SHIT!_ The sound of Alistair’s angry voice makes his heart stutter, and Q is gripped with visceral fear and loathing. He clutches at Bond instinctively. 

“Benji, stop this immediately,” Alistair continues more subdued. “Don’t be a fool Benji. You were so good these last few days, don’t ruin it all now. Come quietly and all will be forgiven.” 

_The man is fucking delusional!_ Q can't help himself anymore, “FUCK OFF ALISTAIR!” He refuses to go quietly anymore. Panic nearly makes him think he’d rather die than endure another session alone with Alistair. 

—

Behind the wall, Q clutches Bond’s sleeve desperately, “Bond… I need to tell you something about the Smart Contracts…” 

He fills Bond in quickly about his ‘life insurance’ hack and how they can use it to bargain with Alistair. It’s an awful last resort and a terrible thing to ask of Bond.

“NO. There has to be another way!” 007 hisses at him. 

“James please,” Q begs, “It doesn’t have to be fatal. The Smart Blood programme will automatically flag a Class 2 hypovolemic shock - a volumetric blood loss of 15% or more; and the Oracle will return a warning to the Smart Contracts which will initiate a staged freeze out of the transactions. It doesn’t have to go that far, it just needs to be convincing enough that Alistair believes it will.”

“Unequivocally, NO. Q, I’m not stabbing you!” Bond reels at what Q is asking of him. 

“Stab me, shoot me… it doesn’t matter! Just pick the least lethal spot,” Q presses on. “I’d do it myself, but can’t be sure of my accuracy.” Q pulls at Bond’s collar imploring him to see the logic. 

—

“BENJI! I don’t have all night,” Alistair’s impatient voice is nearer now. He’s circling the debris to get closer. The crunching of multiple boots on glass coming from both sides. 

Bond refuses to look at Q, scanning their surroundings for an alternative. “Please James! You’re the only one I trust to do this. Alistair will have to let us go or risk losing everything.”

The furrow between Bond’s eyebrows tell Q he’s considering it, but almost as quickly, it’s gone. “Marcus can stab me instead,” he offers heroically. Misguided but commendable. 

“What?? No! We need both your skills to get us out of here. In this fight, I’m useless. Not to mention you’re fucking heavy,” Q argues back urgently.

“Guysss… don’t mean to interrupt this lovers’ quarrel but have we decided on a plan?” 008 asks next to them. He too really wants to get out of there alive. 

Q uses the distraction that the question provides to step out of their hiding place, revealing himself to Alistair. Bond whips around, but can’t grab him in time, “No, Q!”

—

“STOP!” Q tells Alistair and his men, hands in the air. “Alistair, there’s something I have to tell you…” and he confesses his Smart Contract hack for the second time that night. But does not disclose the nature of the trackers or all their capabilities, only that it is an ‘implant’ to monitor vital signs. 

“…It’s tied to Bond and Marcus as well. You harm them and the whole thing is over,” Q warns. 

Alistair fumes, pacing back and forth. He gestures to a henchman to bring his laptop so that he can verify Q’s story. It’s a tense several minutes and it comes to a climax when Alistair finds out it is true. 

“You fucking—!,” He slams the laptop shut and lobs it in Q’s direction. It clatters noisily down the wall behind him. 

“I trusted you Benji! I was going to give you everything you could ever want. We would have been _invincible_. Billions Benji! Billions—“ Alistair cuts himself off, raking a hand through his hair and then covering his mouth. He’s thinking, collecting himself. 

—

“What are you waiting for?” Marcus whispers to Bond. The senior agent has his gun aimed at Q, but hasn’t made his move.

Then Marcus sees it, the almost imperceptible shake at the tip of the muzzle. _Fuck!_ He knows right there and then that there is no way 007 will be able to do it. 

—

Finally, Alistair decides, “Fine. It’s fine,” he says to himself more than anyone. “Your friends can go. But you’re coming with me.”

That should be the cue. Q doesn’t dare move a muscle. Alistair’s henchmen move in carefully. Then before they get within a few meters… *BANG!* it echoes loudly in the cavernous space. 

Alistair and his henchmen duck and back off. 

It takes Q a few seconds, shock numbing his senses. The searing pain in his side blooms into something unbearable and he crumples. But before he hits the glass covered floor, someone catches him - lowering him gently.

James. He’s pulling up Q’s shirt, assessing the damage. Bond is quick to apply pressure on the wound. Behind him, Marcus emerges with a still smoking gun pointed at their assailants. Their guns point back.

It’s a standoff now. 

“If he doesn’t get to a hospital, $PECTRE is done,” Marcus reminds Alistair. “Let us go now and you buy yourself time to rectify the hack. The market will never know something was amiss.” 

Alistair is fuming. “Oh you think you’re very clever now don’t you… _Q_?” he spits out the name like a curse, the first time he’s used it. He directs all his ire at the man cradled in Bond’s arms, “If I let you go what guarantee will I have that you won’t reinfect my network? Do you take me for a fool?” 

Q can barely answer, the pain making it hard to breathe. And James is looking utterly devastated - desperately using the medkit to slow the bleeding. 

Marcus answers for all of them, “Walk away Alistair, what would Kim do if he finds out that you’ve traded billions for this one ridiculous obsession?”

The laugh catches all of them by surprise. Alistair’s cackling intensifies, it’s either he finds it genuinely funny, or it’s the power that comes with the knowledge of having a stunning revelation of his own. 

“Ah, Kim… Do you mean my feckless younger half-brother? Who can’t tell the difference between a CPU and a GPU? Oh, he’s a brilliant actor I’ll give him that. A perfect darling in front of the cameras. And his mother’s connections are infinitely useful as well.”

Then Alistair sobers and answers Marcus menacingly, “He will do what I tell him.”

“You _bastard_! It was you all along!” Q yells at him through gritted teeth. Oh, he’d known Alistair was complicit - but he never expected that he was the mastermind. Then Q makes the connection, something Alistair had told him years ago; Turner was his mother’s maiden name - his father’s surname was Oberhauser! Kim’s full name is Ferdinand Oberhauser-Kim Min Jun. How did he not make the connection before? 

A warning beep from his phone brings Alistair back to the immediate problem. The network is warning him of the start of a staged lockout. Q is losing too much blood too fast. He stares hard at Q for long seconds, then utters his command to his men, “Take the blonde, the other two can go.”

“NO. We all go,” Marcus levels the gun at him, not liking where this is heading. If 007’s earlier reticence was any indication, this may not go well for them. Bond tears his eyes away from the blood pooling under Q. 

Alistair huffs in annoyance, disregarding Marcus to speak to Bond directly, “Come now James, every second you dither he loses more blood. Yes, we’ll both be deprived if he dies. I can live with it, but can _YOU_?” Alistair the master manipulator, dangles the key to his car in front of them. 

It has now turned into a dangerous game of chicken. Alistair would never risk losing all that he’s built. It’s what empowers him… defines him. Just like Q and his Shadow network it’s who they are. But he’s betting that Bond will capitulate first. 

Q knows it's over when he sees Bond’s expression shutter, the trained mask slipping into place. “No! James!” he begs as Bond gestures to Marcus to come over and replace his hand on the wound, keeping the pressure constant. 

“Please, James don’t! He’s bluffing. Just wait please—” Q reaches for him and clutches at his sleeve desperately. 007 spares him one last look - blood stained fingers peeling Q’s clammy ones off his sleeve, his face a complete unmoving mask. 

All of Q’s emotional strength crumples in that moment, “No. No. No…” he’s pleading unashamedly and trying to fight Marcus to reach for James. _His gambit backfired!_ He hadn’t expected the weak link to be James. 

“James please!” If he’d just _fucking_ wait! Q slaps the concrete floor in frustration, watching 007 walk away from him and offering himself to Alistair’s men. 

Bond removes his earwig, takes the keys from Alistair and tosses them both to Marcus with an order to, “Get him to a hospital.”

————----

In the backseat of Alistair’s Maserati, Q sobs both in pain from the wound and from leaving without James. His extremities are starting to get cold from blood loss.

Marcus is driving like the wind to the nearest hospital, swearing at the useless in-built satnav. He’s not terribly familiar with the industrial area they’re in, and he doesn’t have his phone so he has to rely on reading the street signs and instructions from HQ. 

Speaking of HQ, everyone would have heard him begging and can probably hear him sobbing his guts out right now - Q can’t be arsed anymore. His mental recriminations started as soon as Bond decided to trade himself. _The idiot! The bloody fool who wouldn’t listen!_ But even as Q anguishes over 007’s decision, he knows why James did it. 

The fucking farce of a rescue mission turned into a hostage exchange. They won’t kill 007 just yet. Not until they can contain the damage from his hack. That thought alone gives Q the spiteful will to hang on. The longer Alistair takes to find a workaround, the longer 007 is kept alive and well. He’ll have to survive this if he is to prevent Alistair from succeeding. 

Q doesn’t realise his thoughts have drifted and he’s mumbling until someone shines a light into his eyes and he tries to shrink away. He’s on the hospital gurney being wheeled into A&E, 008 rattling off rapid-fire Korean to the hospital staff. 

The commotion is annoying. It’s distracting him from his thoughts to formulate a retrieval plan for 007. But he can’t seem to concentrate. The last thing he thinks about is the abject horror he felt when James peeled his fingers off his sleeve. That can’t possibly be their last goodbye, he thinks as the world goes black…

———————

Back at Blofeld Biologics, they load Bond into the van they had originally planned for Marcus. 

Unbeknownst to them, a small dark object had scuttered across the debris field to latch on to the back of one of their boots. The dim nighttime lighting camouflaging its movements. It had waited until Bond was thoroughly searched before transferring over to him. 

“What do we do with him?” Kim Min Jun asks his older brother. He’d been waiting outside all this while. 

“He’s too dangerous to be kept here. Send him to our friend Sciarra. He’ll know what to do with him until I sort this out,” Alistair tells him. 

———TBC———-

**Author's Note:**

> I'm particularly proud of Q's ingenuity and resilience in this episode. Though there will probably be trauma that he will need to sort out in the future. I'm trying to pull together many of the strings from earlier episodes and bring them to a conclusion/reveal - and creating new ones that can be used in the future. 
> 
> I know its a bit of a technical episode, so hopefully, you were able to follow along. Obviously I've applied liberal amounts of creative licence to it to make it work in the context of the story - this isn't a documentary. LOL.  
> if want to discuss science that could be incorporated in future episodes, I'm all up for it. 
> 
> Also, need ideas for a good punishment for Alistair. 
> 
> As usual, kudos and/or leave a comment. Love to know what you think.


End file.
